A question that clients commonly ask is whether there is a difference in the role between Executors and Trustees, and whether they can be the same people. In short, the Executor's role is to administer the estate under the terms of the Will and a...
How can you help someone with dementia? It's the start of Dementia Action Week 2021 it is important to remember that every 3 seconds someone is diagnosed with dementia and there are now more than 920,000 people living with dementia in the UK. ...
Registered LPAs can now be viewed online If you have a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) that was registered on or after 17th July 2020 you can now choose to share the document online with third party institutions, such as banks and utility companies. ...
2 years since company director Steven Long was sent to prison, we continue to be contacted by former clients of the now collapsed Universal Wealth Preservation (UWP). We have been successful in collapsing trusts naming UWP as trustees and removing UWP from...
There is a common misconception that unmarried couples have the same protection as those who have legally tied the knot due to the "common law spouse" rules. However, this is not the case, as evidenced by last month's landmark...
Universal Wealth Preservation - an Update Following our article on 3rd May 2019 , we have subsequently been contacted by several former clients of Universal Wealth Preservation who require assistance with the situation they find themselves in following the...
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) have confirmed that the Grant of Probate application timescale should be back to the normal 10-day turn around for solicitors within the next few weeks. Since the spring, it has been taking up to 3 months for Grants...
Being married doesn't give your spouse the right to manage your affairs… It is a common misconception that being married or in a civil partnership gives you the legal right to manage your spouse's affairs should they lose mental capacity. In...
Universal Wealth Preservation - have you been affected? Thousands of people are now concerned that they were incorrectly advised in relation to the Wills, Trusts and Lasting Powers of Attorney that were drafted by Ipswich-based Universal Wealth...
The probate fee increase has been delayed... The Probate Registry have confirmed on 27th March that the new fee increase will not be introduced on 1st April as previously expected. The proposed fees will only come into force by an Order once they have...
Following the approval of the Grant of Probate Fee increase by a House of Commons Committee on 7th February, the vote will now be placed before the House of Commons where it is likely to be passed. A date has not yet been set for this vote, but if accepted,...
An Executor's role is to ascertain the assets you own, account to HMRC in respect of inheritance tax, income tax and capital gains tax, obtain a Grant of Probate, transfer or sell any property and then distribute your estate in accordance with your Will....
Every year, thousands of people die intestate - without leaving a Will. In rare circumstances where a person dies without at least one living relative, the estate will, after a period of 12 years, go to the Crown. However, there are companies of professional...
One of the common misconceptions preventing people from putting a Will in place is the view that they don't have anything to leave, for example a property or savings. However, regardless of age or personal circumstances very few people have nothing to...